JEM operative says did recce of NSA’S office; security raised

NEW DELHI: A security dragnet has been placed at the office and residence of National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval after a disclosure by an arrested Jaishe-mohammed (JEM) terrorist that he conducted reconnaissance at Sardar Patel Bhawan, and other high value targets in the Capital on the instructions of his Pakistan-based handler, according to people familiar with the matter.

Doval, who has been a target of terror groups operating from Pakistan since the 2016 Uri surgical strikes and the 2019 Balakot attack, is one of India’s most protected individuals. The possible threat to the NSA has been conveyed to security agencies and the Union home ministry, said the people cited above who asked not to be named.

Officials in Delhi and Srinagar said information about a detailed video recce of Doval’s office was revealed during interrogation by Jaish operative Hidayat-ullah Malik, a Shopian resident who was arrested on

February 6. A case -- FIR number 15/2021 under Section 18 and 20 UAP Act -- has been registered against Malik at the Gangyal police station in Jammu. Malik, who is the chief of a Jaish front group, Lashkar-e-mustafa, was arrested in Ananatnag, and arms and ammunition were found in his possession.

The people said that Hidayat told interrogators that, on May 24, 2019, he took an Indigo flight from Srinagar to New Delhi to record a video of the NSA’S office.